Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus (10) includes a selection reception unit (110) that receives an input indicating that at least one countermeasure is selected from among a plurality of countermeasures against vulnerability, a remaining terminal identification unit (120) that reads out terminal-specific countermeasure information, indicating a countermeasure applicable for each terminal against the vulnerability, from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specific countermeasure information, and identifies a remaining terminal which is a terminal that would be left with the vulnerability on the basis of the read-out terminal-specific countermeasure information, and a remaining terminal information providing unit (130) that provides the number of identified remaining terminals.

The present application is a Continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/759,582 filed on Mar. 13, 2018, which is aNational Stage Entry of international application PCT/JP2016/074607,filed on Aug. 24, 2016, which claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application 2015-182073 filed on Sep. 15, 2015, thedisclosures of all of which are incorporated in their entirety byreference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a technique for assisting a manager'sdecision-making relevant to a countermeasure against vulnerability.

BACKGROUND ART

An example of invention in which information of each terminal iscollected, and countermeasures (measures) are drawn up againstvulnerability present in each terminal is disclosed in, for example, thefollowing Patent Documents 1 to 3. The following Patent Document 1discloses a technique to analyze risk on the basis of the state of asystem in operation, and to provide an optimum countermeasure method, inconsideration of various restrictions imposed on the system inoperation, from countermeasure alternatives for reducing the risk. Inaddition, the following Patent Document 2 discloses a technique allowingappropriate countermeasure to be drawn-up in a combination ofcountermeasures that can be taken in practice, in further considerationof a restriction such as an exclusive relationship between securitycountermeasures. The following Patent Document 3 discloses a system inwhich a set of countermeasures against a potential threat with respectto a technical system is ranked on the basis of effectiveness, and thehighest-ranked set of countermeasures is applied.

RELATED DOCUMENTS Patent Documents

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5304243

[Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 5125069

[Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent No. 5406195

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Technical Problem

Countermeasures other than patch application coping with vulnerabilityare dependent on the circumstances of terminals to be managed, and asingle countermeasure may not be applicable to all terminals. For thisreason, in a case where countermeasures are performed on a large numberof terminals, it is necessary to plan countermeasures againstvulnerability with respect to individual terminals, and a huge amount ofoperational cost is thus incurred. In addition, in a case where aplurality of applicable countermeasures are present, it is not clearlyunderstood to what extent risk remains after arbitrary countermeasuresare performed, and which countermeasures should be performed later.Hence, it has been difficult to draw up a plan of countermeasures.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique tovisualize which countermeasures are applicable to a large number ofterminals and to what extent risk remains after countermeasure, and tothereby assist a security manager's decision-making.

Solution to Problem

According to the present invention, there is provided an informationprocessing apparatus including: a selection reception unit that receivesan input indicating that at least one countermeasure is selected fromamong a plurality of countermeasures against vulnerability; a remainingterminal identification unit that reads out terminal-specificcountermeasure information, indicating a countermeasure applicable foreach terminal against the vulnerability, from a storage unit that storesthe terminal-specific countermeasure information, and identifies aremaining terminal which is a terminal that would be left with thevulnerability on the basis of the read-out terminal-specificcountermeasure information; and a remaining terminal informationproviding unit that provides the number of identified remainingterminals.

According to the present invention, there is provided an informationprocessing method performed by a computer, the method including:receiving an input indicating that at least one countermeasure isselected from among a plurality of countermeasures againstvulnerability; reading out terminal-specific countermeasure information,indicating a countermeasure applicable for each terminal against thevulnerability, from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specificcountermeasure information, and identifying a remaining terminal whichis a terminal that would be left with the vulnerability on the basis ofthe read-out terminal-specific countermeasure information; and providethe number of identified remaining terminals.

According to the present invention, there is provided a program forcausing a computer to function as: a selection reception unit thatreceives an input indicating that at least one countermeasure isselected from among a plurality of countermeasures againstvulnerability; a remaining terminal identification unit that reads outterminal-specific countermeasure information, indicating acountermeasure applicable for each terminal against the vulnerability,from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation, and identifies a remaining terminal which is a terminalthat would be left with the vulnerability on the basis of the read-outterminal-specific countermeasure information; and a remaining terminalinformation providing unit that provides the number of identifiedremaining terminals.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to visualize whichcountermeasures are applicable to a large number of terminals and towhat extent risk remains after countermeasure, and for a securitymanager to easily perform the drawing-up of countermeasures againstvulnerability.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages will be madeclearer from certain preferred embodiment described below, and thefollowing accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a process configuration ofan information processing apparatus according to a first exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen which isdisplayed on a display apparatus by the information processingapparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal-specificcountermeasure information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information which isoutput by a remaining terminal information providing unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a hardware configurationof the information processing apparatus of the first example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow of processes of theinformation processing apparatus according to the first exampleembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen which is outputby the information processing apparatus in a modification example of thefirst example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen which isoutput by an information processing apparatus 10 in the modificationexample of the first example embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a system configuration ofan information processing system of a second example embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal informationcollected by a terminal information collection unit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of classificationinformation which is stored by a classification information storageunit.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen which isgenerated by a display processing unit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information which isoutput by the remaining terminal information providing unit inaccordance with selection inputs received in the screen of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating another example of classificationinformation which is stored by the classification information storageunit.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen which isgenerated by the display processing unit.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of information which isoutput by the remaining terminal information providing unit inaccordance with selection inputs received in the screen of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating another example of classificationinformation which is stored by the classification information storageunit.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating another example of a screen which isgenerated by the display processing unit.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of information which isoutput by the remaining terminal information providing unit inaccordance with selection inputs received in the screen of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow of processes of aninformation processing apparatus according to the second exampleembodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal specificationinformation stored in a vulnerability information storage unit.

FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically illustrating processes of a remainingterminal identification unit of a third example embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a process configurationof an information processing apparatus of the third example embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal specificationinformation stored in the vulnerability information storage unit.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all thedrawings, like elements are referenced by like reference numerals andthe descriptions thereof will not be repeated.

First Example Embodiment Process Configuration

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a process configuration ofan information processing apparatus 10 according to a first exampleembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the informationprocessing apparatus 10 of the present example embodiment includes aselection reception unit 110, a remaining terminal identification unit120, and a remaining terminal information providing unit 130.

The selection reception unit 110 receives an input indicating that atleast one countermeasure is selected from among a plurality ofcountermeasures against vulnerability. The selection reception unit 110receives selection inputs of countermeasures against vulnerabilitythrough, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 2. Here, examples of thecountermeasures include the application of a security patch, the settingchange of an application, a communication restriction due to theactivation of a fire wall, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen which isdisplayed on a display apparatus (not shown) by the informationprocessing apparatus 10. In FIG. 2, a screen for displaying the numberof terminals having vulnerability (risk), the number of remaining risks(terminals that would be left with vulnerability) after each of thecountermeasures is selected, each of the countermeasures againstvulnerability, and the number of terminals to which each of thecountermeasures is applicable in association with each other areexemplified. A numeral written within parentheses of the field of thecolumn of each countermeasure indicates the number of terminals to whicha countermeasure corresponding to the column is applicable. In thescreen example of FIG. 2, it can be understood that, among ninetyterminals having vulnerability (risk), the number of terminals to whicha countermeasure (1) is applicable is 28, the number of terminals towhich a countermeasure (2) is applicable is 69, and the number ofterminals to which the countermeasure (3) is applicable is 15. Note thatthe reason that a value obtained by adding up the number of terminalsaccording to the countermeasures is different from the number (90) ofterminals serving as a parameter is because terminals to which aplurality of countermeasures are applicable are present. In addition,the information processing apparatus 10 may generate a screen fordisplaying information (such as, for example, the terminal name or MACaddress of each terminal) capable of specifying each terminal, insteadof (or in addition to) the number of terminals.

The screen of FIG. 2 is generated by the information processingapparatus 10 on the basis of information (terminal-specificcountermeasure information) indicating countermeasures applicable foreach terminal against vulnerability, for example, as shown in FIG. 3.FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminal-specificcountermeasure information. The terminal-specific countermeasureinformation includes terminal specification information (such as, forexample, a media access control (MAC) address) for specifying eachterminal and information indicating countermeasures applicable to eachterminal. Here, the applicable countermeasure refers to a countermeasureby which vulnerability is eliminated in a case where the countermeasureis applied. The terminal-specific countermeasure information isgenerated by examining a terminal to be managed in advance on the basisof, for example, information (vulnerability information) indicatingvulnerability, its countermeasure and the like, which is provided fromeach vendor or the like, and is stored in a predetermined storage unit(not shown). A storage unit that stores the terminal-specificcountermeasure information as shown in FIG. 3 may be included in theinformation processing apparatus 10, and may be stored in anotherapparatus which is communicably connected to the information processingapparatus 10.

When the selection reception unit 110 receives selection inputs ofcountermeasures on the screen as shown in FIG. 2, described later, theremaining terminal identification unit 120 calculates results on theassumption that the countermeasures indicated by the selection inputsreceived by the selection reception unit 110 are executed, and theremaining terminal information providing unit 130 displays the resultsin the screen.

The remaining terminal identification unit 120 reads outterminal-specific countermeasure information from a predeterminedstorage unit (not shown), and identifies terminals that would be leftwith vulnerability (hereinafter, also denoted by remaining terminals) onthe basis of the read-out terminal-specific countermeasure information.As described above, the terminal-specific countermeasure information isinformation indicating countermeasures applicable for each terminalagainst vulnerability, and is stored in a storage unit in formats asshown in FIG. 3. The remaining terminal identification unit 120 canidentify terminals to which countermeasures indicated by selectioninputs are applicable, from a correspondence relation between terminalspecification information of the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation and applicable countermeasures as shown in FIG. 3.Simultaneously, the remaining terminal identification unit 120 canidentify terminals that would be left with vulnerability (remainingterminals).

The remaining terminal information providing unit 130 provides thenumber of identified remaining terminals to, for example, a displayapparatus or the like connected to the information processing apparatus10. For example, the remaining terminal information providing unit 130tallies up the number of remaining terminals identified by the remainingterminal identification unit 120, and displays the results in the screenof FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating anexample of information which is output by the remaining terminalinformation providing unit 130. In FIG. 4, a case where a“countermeasure (1)” is selected on the screen of FIG. 2 is exemplified.In this manner, when countermeasures against vulnerability are selectedon a screen which is provided by the information processing apparatus10, results on the assumption that the countermeasures are performed aredisplayed in the screen.

Hardware Configuration

FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a hardware configurationof the information processing apparatus 10 of the first exampleembodiment.

The information processing apparatus 10 includes a processor 101, amemory 102, a storage 103, an input and output interface (input andoutput I/F) 1004, a communication interface (communication I/F) 105, andthe like. The processor 101, the memory 102, the storage 103, the inputand output interface 104, and the communication interface 105 areconnected to each other by a data transmission channel for mutuallytransmitting and receiving data.

The processor 101 is an arithmetic processing apparatus such as, forexample, a central processing unit (CPU), or a graphics processing unit(GPU). The memory 102 is a memory such as, for example, a random accessmemory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The storage 103 is a storageapparatus such as, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid statedrive (SSD), or a memory card. In addition, the storage 103 may be amemory such as a RAM or a ROM.

The storage 103 stores programs for implementing functions of therespective processing units (such as the selection reception unit 110,the remaining terminal identification unit 120, and the remainingterminal information providing unit 130) included in the informationprocessing apparatus 10. The processor 101 realizes the functions of therespective processing units by executing these respective programs.Here, when the processor 101 executes the respective programs, theseprograms may be read out into the memory 102 and then be executed, andmay executed without being read out into the memory 102.

The input and output interface 104 is connected to a display apparatus1041, an input apparatus 1042 or the like. The display apparatus 1041 isan apparatus, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube(CRT) display, which displays a screen corresponding to drawing dataprocessed by the processor 101. The input apparatus 1042 is an apparatusthat receives an operator's operation input, and is, for example, akeyboard, a mouse, a touch sensor, and the like. The display apparatus1041 and the input apparatus 1042 may be formed integrally with eachother, and be realized as a touch panel.

The communication interface 105 transmits and receives data to and froman external apparatus. For example, the communication interface 105communicates with the external apparatus through a wired network or awireless network.

It should be noted that the hardware configuration of the informationprocessing apparatus 10 is not limited to the configuration shown inFIG. 5.

Operation Example

An operation example of the information processing apparatus 10 in thepresent example embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 6.FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow of processes of theinformation processing apparatus 10 in the first example embodiment.Note that the following shows an example in which the remaining terminalinformation providing unit 130 tallies up the number of remainingterminals, and the result is displayed on a screen. Without beinglimited the following operation example, the remaining terminalinformation providing unit 130 may be configured to display information(such as a terminal name or a MAC address) for specifying each remainingterminal on a screen.

First, the selection reception unit 110 receives a user's input throughthe screen as shown in FIG. 2 (S101). The user's input is an input forselecting at least one countermeasure out of a plurality ofcountermeasures provided on the screen. The remaining terminalidentification unit 120 refers to a storage unit that storesterminal-specific countermeasure information, using a countermeasureindicated by the input received by the selection reception unit 110 as akey, and identifies remaining terminals which are terminals that wouldbe left with vulnerability (S102). For example, it is assumed that thestorage unit has information shown in FIG. 3, and that the selectionreception unit 110 receives an input indicating a “countermeasure (1)”is selected. In this case, the remaining terminal identification unit120 identifies at least a “terminal B” and a “terminal C” as terminals(remaining terminals) to which the “countermeasure (1)” is notapplicable. The remaining terminal information providing unit 130 thentallies up the number of remaining terminals identified in S102 (S103),and updates the screen using the result (S104).

Operation and Effects of First Example Embodiment

Hereinbefore, in the present example embodiment, the number of remainingterminals (remaining risks) on the assumption that the selectedcountermeasure is applied is provided to a security manager. Thereby,according to the present example embodiment, it is possible to excludethe ambiguity or complication of the drawing-up of vulnerabilitycountermeasures due to the presence of terminals to which a plurality ofcountermeasures are applicable. As a result, it is possible for asecurity manager to easily draw up a plan of countermeasures againstvulnerability. In addition, in the present example embodiment, in a casewhere a plurality of terminals having vulnerability are present, it ispossible to visibly provide countermeasures against the vulnerabilityand the number of terminals to which each of the countermeasures isapplicable. These pieces of information are helpful when a securitymanager draws up a plan against vulnerability.

Modification Example of First Example Embodiment

The remaining terminal information providing unit 130 may be configuredto further provide information for specifying each of the identifiedremaining terminals, in addition to the number of remaining terminalsidentified by the remaining terminal identification unit 120. In thiscase, a screen as shown in FIG. 7 is output instead of, for example, thescreen of FIG. 4. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of ascreen which is output by the information processing apparatus 10 in amodification example of the first example embodiment. FIG. 7 exemplifiesa screen for displaying the number of remaining terminals identified andthe terminal names of the remaining terminals together therewith.However, the displayed screen is not limited to the example of FIG. 7.For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the screen may be such a screen as thaton which a list of information of remaining terminals is displayed inresponse to selection of a field of “remaining risk aftercountermeasure” on the screen of FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is a diagramillustrating another example of a screen which is output by theinformation processing apparatus 10 in the modification example of thefirst example embodiment. Further, the remaining terminal informationproviding unit 130 may perform grouping of remaining terminals usinginformation or the like indicating the classification of the remainingterminals, and provide the result to a display apparatus. Thereby, it ispossible to recognize a trend of the remaining terminals.

Second Example Embodiment

In the present example embodiment, the first example embodiment will bedescribed in more detail.

System Configuration

FIG. 9 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a system configuration ofan information processing system 1 of a second example embodiment. Asshown in FIG. 9, the information processing system 1 is configured toinclude an information processing apparatus 10, manager terminal 20, andterminals 30 to be managed. The manager terminal 20 is a terminal whichis operated by a security manager, and is a stationary personal computer(PC), a tablet terminal or the like. The terminal 30 to be managed isnot only a client terminal, a server terminal, and a networking devicesuch as a switch or a router on a network, but also every thing (thingincluded in the so-called Internet of things (IoT)) having a functionfor connection to a network or a unit communicating through a network.

Process Configuration

As shown in FIG. 9, the information processing apparatus 10 of thepresent example embodiment further includes a terminal informationcollection unit 140, a vulnerability examination unit 150, avulnerability information storage unit 152, a display processing unit160, and a classification information storage unit 162, in addition tothe configuration of the first example embodiment.

The terminal information collection unit 140 collects terminalinformation from each of the terminals 30 to be managed, and obtainsinformation as shown in FIG. 10. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating anexample of terminal information collected by the terminal informationcollection unit 140. The terminal information includes, for example, thetype of operating system (OS) of the terminal 30 to be managed, theversion of OS, various types of applications installed in the terminal30 to be managed, and the like. However, the terminal information is notlimited to the information as exemplified in FIG. 10.

The vulnerability examination unit 150 examines a terminal 30 to bemanaged having vulnerability and generates vulnerability informationincluding the terminal-specific countermeasure information as shown inFIG. 3, in light of the terminal information collected by the terminalinformation collection unit 140 and the vulnerability informationprovided from each vendor or the like. For example, the vulnerabilityinformation may further include information such as the outline ofvulnerability or the description of each countermeasure, in addition tothe terminal-specific countermeasure information as shown in FIG. 3. Thevulnerability examination unit 150 stores the generated vulnerabilityinformation in the vulnerability information storage unit 152.

The display processing unit 160 generates a screen which is displayed onthe display unit of the manager terminal 20 using the vulnerabilityinformation stored in the vulnerability information storage unit 152,and outputs the generated screen to the manager terminal 20. In thepresent example embodiment, the display processing unit 160 generates ascreen for classifying and displaying, for example, terminals havingvulnerability as shown in FIG. 12, using, for example, classificationinformation of the classification information storage unit 162 as shownin FIG. 11. It is possible to grasp a trend of remaining terminals byusing the classification information. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustratingan example of classification information which is stored by theclassification information storage unit 162, and FIG. 12 is a diagramillustrating an example of a screen which is generated by the displayprocessing unit 160. In the example of FIG. 11, the classificationinformation storage unit 162 stores information (such as, for example, aMAC address) for specifying each terminal and classification (“server”or “client”) to which the terminal belongs, in association with eachother. The classification information is generated by, for example, asecurity manager in advance, and stored in the classificationinformation storage unit 162. The display processing unit 160 generatesa screen for displaying terminals 30 to be managed having vulnerabilityby classification into, for example, “server” and “client”, as shown inFIG. 12, using the classification information shown in FIG. 11, anddisplays the generated screen on the display unit of the managerterminal 20. The security manager checks the screen displayed in themanager terminal 20, and performs a selection input of countermeasuresapplied to vulnerability. A result which is input herein is transmittedto the selection reception unit 110. In a case where the selectionreception unit 110 receives the selection input, as described in thefirst example embodiment, the remaining terminal identification unit 120identifies remaining terminals, and the remaining terminal informationproviding unit 130 displays the number thereof on, for example, thescreen as shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an exampleof information which is output by the remaining terminal informationproviding unit 130 in accordance with the selection input received onthe screen of FIG. 12. The selection reception unit 110 receives aselection input for each classification (“server” and “client”) throughthe screen as shown in FIG. 12, and the remaining terminalidentification unit 120 identifies remaining terminals for eachclassification on the basis of the selection input for eachclassification. As shown in FIG. 13, the remaining terminal informationproviding unit 130 then provides a screen for displaying the numbers ofremaining terminals on the assumption that countermeasures selected foreach classification are temporarily performed, and the number ofremaining terminals obtained by adding up these numbers.

Here, another example of the screen which is generated by the displayprocessing unit 160 will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 19.FIGS. 14 and 17 are diagrams illustrating another example ofclassification information which is stored by the classificationinformation storage unit 162, and FIGS. 15 and 18 are diagramsillustrating another example of the screen which is generated by thedisplay processing unit 160. In addition, FIG. 16 is a diagramillustrating an example of information which is output by the remainingterminal information providing unit 130 in accordance with selectioninputs received on a screen of FIG. 15, and FIG. 19 is a diagramillustrating an example of information which is output by the remainingterminal information providing unit 130 in accordance with selectioninputs received on a screen of FIG. 18.

In the example shown in FIG. 14, the classification information storageunit 162 stores information indicating the degree of priority(importance) of each terminal as the classification information. Forexample, a terminal having personal information stored therein is set tohave “degree of priority: high”, and a terminal having only publicinformation stored therein is set to have “degree of priority: low”. Thedisplay processing unit 160 generates a screen for displaying terminals30 to be managed having vulnerability by classification into degrees ofpriority (for example, high/medium/low), for example, as shown in FIG.15, using the classification information shown in FIG. 14. The selectionreception unit 110 receives a selection input for each classification(degrees of priority “high/medium/low”) through the screen as shown inFIG. 15, the remaining terminal identification unit 120 identifiesremaining terminals for each classification on the basis of theselection input for each classification. As shown in FIG. 16, theremaining terminal information providing unit 130 then provides a screenfor displaying the numbers of remaining terminals on the assumption thatcountermeasures selected for each classification are performed, and thenumber of remaining terminals obtained by adding up these numbers. Inaddition, in the example shown in FIG. 17, the classificationinformation storage unit 162 stores two types of classificationinformation (the type of terminal and the degree of priority). Thedisplay processing unit 160 generates, for example, a screen as shown inFIG. 18, using the classification information shown in FIG. 17. In thescreen of FIG. 18, the terminals 30 to be managed having vulnerabilityare first classified into a “server” and a “client”, and the terminals30 to be managed belonging to the “client” are further classifiedaccording to the magnitude of the degree of priority. The selectionreception unit 110 receives a selection input for each classification(“server” or “client” or in a case of “client”, the degrees of priority“high/medium/low”) through the screen as shown in FIG. 18, and theremaining terminal identification unit 120 identifies remainingterminals for each classification on the basis of the selection inputfor each classification. As shown in FIG. 19, the remaining terminalinformation providing unit 130 then provides a screen for displaying thenumbers of remaining terminals on the assumption that e countermeasuresselected for each classification are performed, and the number ofremaining terminals obtained by adding up these numbers. Here, as shownin FIG. 18, the remaining terminal information providing unit 130 canalso provide not only the entire number of remaining terminals, but alsothe number of remaining terminals relating to the classification of the“client” further classified according to the degree of priority.

Hardware Configuration

The information processing apparatus 10 of the present exampleembodiment has the same hardware configuration as that in the firstexample embodiment. The storage 103 further stores programs forrealizing functions of the respective processing units (the terminalinformation collection unit 140, the vulnerability examination unit 150,and the display processing unit 160) of the present example embodiment,and the respective processing units of the present example embodimentare realized by the processor 101 executing these programs. In addition,the memory 102 or the storage 103 also serves as the vulnerabilityinformation storage unit 152 and the classification information storageunit 162.

Operation Example

An operation example of the information processing apparatus 10 in thepresent example embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 20.FIG. 20 is a flow diagram illustrating a flow of processes of theinformation processing apparatus 10 in the second example embodiment.

The terminal information collection unit 140 collects the terminalinformation of each terminal 30 to be managed, for example, inaccordance with a screen display request from the manager terminal 20(S201). The vulnerability examination unit 150 examines terminals 30 tobe managed having vulnerability, for example, on the basis of thecollected terminal information of each terminal 30 to be managed, andgenerates vulnerability information (S202). The vulnerabilityexamination unit 150 can identify terminals 30 to be managed havingvulnerability, applicable countermeasures and the like, for example, inlight of the collected terminal information of each terminal 30 to bemanaged and the vulnerability information provided from each vendor orthe like. Note that the processes of S201 and S202 may be executed inadvance before the screen display request from the manager terminal 20is received. In this case, the following process of S203 is executed inaccordance with the screen display request from the manager terminal 20.

The display processing unit 160 generates a screen (for example, screenof FIG. 12) for displaying a result obtained by examining terminalshaving vulnerability on the basis of the vulnerability informationgenerated in S202 and the classification information stored in theclassification information storage unit 162, and displays the generatedscreen on the display unit of the manager terminal 20 (S203). A securitymanager who operates the manager terminal 20 checks the contents of thedisplayed screen, and performs an input operation of selecting at leastone of a plurality of countermeasures. The selection reception unit 110receives information, indicating a countermeasure selected by the inputoperation in the manager terminal 20, from the manager terminal 20(S204). The remaining terminal identification unit 120 identifiesremaining terminals on the basis of the information indicating acountermeasure selected by the manager terminal 20 and theterminal-specific countermeasure information (S205).

It should be noted that, in a case where an operation of selecting aplurality of countermeasures is performed in the manager terminal 20,the remaining terminal identification unit 120 identifies remainingterminals as follows. First, the remaining terminal identification unit120 identifies terminals to which each of the plurality ofcountermeasures selected is applicable. Here, it is assumed that thevulnerability information storage unit 152 stores vulnerabilityinformation including the terminal-specific countermeasure informationas shown in FIG. 21, and that the selection reception unit 110 receivesan input indicating that a countermeasure (1) and a countermeasure (3)are selected. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of terminalspecification information stored in the vulnerability informationstorage unit 152. In this case, the remaining terminal identificationunit 120 identifies that terminals to which the countermeasure (1) isapplicable are a terminal A and a terminal E, and that terminals towhich the countermeasure (3) is applicable are a terminal C and aterminal D, on the basis of the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation. The remaining terminal identification unit 120 identifiesthe remaining terminals on the basis of the logical sum of the terminalsidentified for each of the countermeasures. In the example exemplifiedherein, as the logical sum of the terminals to which the countermeasure(1) is applicable and the terminals to which the countermeasure (3) isapplicable, the terminal A, the terminal C, the terminal D, and theterminal E are identified. As a result, the terminal B is identified asthe remaining terminal. This process of the remaining terminalidentification unit 120 can be shown as FIG. 22. FIG. 22 is a diagramschematically illustrating a process of the remaining terminalidentification unit 120 of a third example embodiment.

The remaining terminal information providing unit 130 tallies up thenumber of remaining terminals identified in S205, and outputs thetallied-up number to the display processing unit 160 (S206). Here, theremaining terminal information providing unit 130 may further acquireinformation (such as, for example, terminal name and MAC address) forspecifying each remaining terminal identified in S205 and output theacquired information to the display processing unit 160. The displayprocessing unit 160 updates the screen displayed in the manager terminal20 on the basis of the information from the remaining terminalinformation providing unit 130 (S207).

Hereinbefore, according to the present example embodiment, it ispossible to obtain the same effect as that in the first exampleembodiment.

Third Example Embodiment

In the present example embodiment, the information processing apparatus10 further having a function of making the draw-up of a plan againstvulnerability efficient will be described below.

Process Configuration

FIG. 23 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a process configurationof an information processing apparatus 10 of the third exampleembodiment. As shown in FIG. 23, the information processing apparatus 10of the present example embodiment includes a countermeasure optimizationunit 164 in addition to the configuration of the second exampleembodiment.

The countermeasure optimization unit 164 identifies combinations ofcountermeasures in which the number of remaining terminals identified bythe remaining terminal identification unit 120 is the smallest, on thebasis of the terminal-specific countermeasure information. For example,it is assumed that the terminal-specific countermeasure information asshown in FIG. 24 is held. FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an exampleof terminal specification information stored in the vulnerabilityinformation storage unit. In this case, the combinations ofcountermeasures in which the number of remaining terminals is thesmallest are a combination of the countermeasure (2) and thecountermeasure (3) or a combination the countermeasure (1), thecountermeasure (2) and the countermeasure (3), and the countermeasureoptimization unit 164 determines these combinations as “combinations ofcountermeasures in which the number of remaining terminals is thesmallest”.

In addition, as in this example, in a case where there are a pluralityof “combinations of countermeasures in which the number of remainingterminals is the smallest”, the countermeasure optimization unit 164 maybe configured to determine a combination in which the number ofcountermeasures is the smallest among the determined combinations. Inthe example exemplified herein, the countermeasure optimization unit 164determines a combination of the countermeasure (2) and thecountermeasure (3) as the combination in which “the number ofcountermeasures is the smallest”.

The countermeasure optimization unit 164 displays the determined“combinations of countermeasures in which the number of remainingterminals is the smallest” or the “combination in which the number ofcountermeasures is the smallest” among them, in the screen displayed inthe manager terminal 20. The countermeasure optimization unit 164highlights the determined “combinations of countermeasures in which thenumber of remaining terminals is the smallest” or the “combination inwhich the number of countermeasures is the smallest” among them, on thescreen displayed in the manager terminal 20, for example, at the time ofinitially displaying a screen in the manager terminal 20, or inaccordance with pressing down of a predetermined button provided on thescreen. An operator of the manager terminal 20 can selectcountermeasures to be performed by referring to the information providedfrom the countermeasure optimization unit 164. In addition, withoutbeing limited thereto, the countermeasure optimization unit 164 may usethe determined “combinations of countermeasures in which the number ofremaining terminals is the smallest” or the “combination in which thenumber of countermeasures is the smallest” among them, as an automaticselection input for the screen displayed in the manager terminal 20. Inthis case, the selection reception unit 110 receives the countermeasuresautomatically selected by the countermeasure optimization unit 164 as aninput, and the remaining terminal identification unit 120 identifiesremaining terminals on the assumption that the selected countermeasuresare executed. The remaining terminal information providing unit 130tallies up the number of remaining terminals identified by the remainingterminal identification unit 120 and displays the tallied-up number inthe screen. An operator of the manager terminal 20 checks contentsdisplayed in the screen, and manually changes the selection contents ifnecessary.

Hardware Configuration

The information processing apparatus 10 of the present exampleembodiment has the same hardware configuration as that in the firstexample embodiment. The storage 103 further stores programs forrealizing a function of the countermeasure optimization unit 164 of thepresent example embodiment, and the countermeasure optimization unit 164of the present example embodiment is realized by the processor 101executing these programs.

Hereinbefore, according to the present example embodiment, at least the“combinations of countermeasures in which the number of remainingterminals is the smallest” are determined, and are set on the screendisplayed in the manager terminal 20, at the time of initial display ofthe screen or in accordance with a predetermined operation. In addition,according to the present example embodiment, the “combination in whichthe number of countermeasures is the smallest” is further determined,and is set on the screen displayed in the manager terminal 20. Thereby,it is possible to provide effective combinations of countermeasures fromthe information processing apparatus 10 to a security manager, and toreduce time and labor for a security manager to be taken to work.

Hereinbefore, although the example embodiments of the present inventionhave been set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, theexample embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention,and various configurations other than those stated above can be adopted.

For example, in each of the above-described example embodiments, abutton for executing a countermeasure with respect to each terminal tobe managed on the basis of the contents selected on the screen may befurther provided on the screen. In a case where the button is presseddown, the information processing apparatus 10 generates a command forcausing each terminal to execute a countermeasure in accordance with theselected contents, and outputs the generated command toward eachterminal.

In addition, in each of the example embodiments described above, anaspect has been described in which the number of remaining terminals isprovided. However, it is also possible to provide an index relating tothe remaining terminals. The index relating to the remaining terminalsincludes, for example, a ratio of the number of remaining terminals tothe number of terminals having vulnerability (risk), a color accordingto the ratio, or the like.

In addition, in each of the example embodiments described above, anaspect has been described in which the number of remaining terminals isprovided in accordance with a selection input of countermeasures againstvulnerability. However, for example, in a case where the number ofapplicable countermeasures is small, or the like, it is also possible toprovide the number of remaining terminals on the assumption that all thecountermeasures are applied, from the beginning, regardless of theselection input.

In addition, in each of the example embodiments described above, anaspect has been described in which the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation generated by examining terminals to be managed in advance isread out from the storage unit, and the remaining terminals which areterminals that would be left with vulnerability are identified on thebasis of the read-out terminal-specific countermeasure information.However, it is also possible to acquire the terminal-specificcountermeasure information by examining the terminals to be managed whenthe remaining terminals are identified.

In addition, in a plurality of flow diagrams using the aforementioneddescription, a plurality of steps (processes) are described in order,but the execution order of processes which are executed in each exampleembodiment is not limited to the described order. In each exampleembodiment, the order of processes shown can be changed within a rangewithout causing any problem in terms of contents. In addition, eachexample embodiment described above can be combined in a range consistentwith the contents thereof.

Hereinafter, examples of reference forms are appended.

1. An information processing apparatus including:

a selection reception unit that receives an input indicating that atleast one countermeasure is selected from among a plurality ofcountermeasures against vulnerability;

a remaining terminal identification unit that reads outterminal-specific countermeasure information, indicating acountermeasure applicable for each terminal against the vulnerability,from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation, and identifies a remaining terminal which is a terminalthat would be left with the vulnerability on the basis of the read-outterminal-specific countermeasure information; and

a remaining terminal information providing unit that provides the numberof identified remaining terminals.

2. The information processing apparatus according to 1,

wherein the remaining terminal information providing unit outputsinformation for specifying each of the identified remaining terminals,in addition to the number of the identified remaining terminals.

3. The information processing apparatus according to 1 or 2,

wherein in a case where a plurality of countermeasures are selected bythe selection reception unit, the remaining terminal identification unitidentifies a terminal to which each of the selected plurality ofcountermeasures is applicable, on the basis of the terminal-specificcountermeasure information, and identifies the remaining terminal usinga logical sum of terminals identified for each of the countermeasures.

4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3,further including a countermeasure optimization unit that determines acombination of countermeasures in which the number of the remainingterminals is the smallest, on the basis of the terminal-specificcountermeasure information.

5. The information processing apparatus according to 4,

wherein among combinations of countermeasures in which the number of theremaining terminals is the smallest, the countermeasure optimizationunit determines a combination in which the number of countermeasuresincluded in the combination is the smallest.

6. An information processing method performed by a computer, the methodincluding:

receiving an input indicating that at least one countermeasure isselected from among a plurality of countermeasures againstvulnerability;

reading out terminal-specific countermeasure information, indicating acountermeasure applicable for each terminal against the vulnerability,from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation, and identifying a remaining terminal which is a terminalthat would be left with the vulnerability on the basis of the read-outterminal-specific countermeasure information; and

providing the number of identified remaining terminals.

7. The information processing method performed by the computer accordingto 6, the method including outputting information for specifying each ofthe identified remaining terminals, in addition to the number of theidentified remaining terminals.

8. The information processing method performed by the computer accordingto 6 or 7, the method including, in a case where a plurality ofcountermeasures are selected by the selection reception unit, identify aterminal to which each of the selected plurality of countermeasures isapplicable, on the basis of the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation, and identify the remaining terminal using a logical sum ofterminals identified for each of the countermeasures.

9. The information processing method performed by the computer accordingto any one of 6 to 8, the method including determining a combination ofcountermeasures in which the number of the remaining terminals is thesmallest, on the basis of the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation.

10. The information processing method performed by the computeraccording to 9, the method including determining, among combinations ofcountermeasures in which the number of the remaining terminals is thesmallest, a combination in which the number of countermeasures includedin the combinations is the smallest.

11. A program for causing a computer to function as:

a selection reception unit that receives an input indicating that atleast one countermeasure is selected from among a plurality ofcountermeasures against vulnerability;

a remaining terminal identification unit that reads outterminal-specific countermeasure information, indicating acountermeasure applicable for each terminal against the vulnerability,from a storage unit that stores the terminal-specific countermeasureinformation, and identifies a remaining terminal which is a terminalthat would be left with the vulnerability on the basis of the read-outterminal-specific countermeasure information; and

a remaining terminal information providing unit that provides the numberof identified remaining terminals.

12. The program according to 11, causing the computer to function as:

the remaining terminal information providing unit that outputsinformation for specifying each of the identified remaining terminals,in addition to the number of the identified remaining terminals.

13. The program according to 11 or 12, causing the computer to functionas:

the remaining terminal identification unit that identifies, in a casewhere a plurality of countermeasures are selected by the selectionreception unit, a terminal to which each of the selected plurality ofcountermeasures is applicable, on the basis of the terminal-specificcountermeasure information, and identifies the remaining terminal usinga logical sum of terminal identified for each of the countermeasures.

14. The program according to any one of 11 to 13, causing the computerto further function as a countermeasure optimization unit thatdetermines a combination of countermeasures in which the number of theremaining terminals is the smallest, on the basis of theterminal-specific countermeasure information.

15. The program according to 14, causing the computer to function as:

the countermeasure optimization unit that determines, among combinationsof countermeasures in which the number of the remaining terminals is thesmallest, a combination in which the number of countermeasures includedin the combination is the smallest.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-182073filed on Sep. 15, 2015, the content of which is incorporated hereinto byreference.

1. A method performed by a server connected with a terminal, comprising:receiving a selected countermeasure corresponding to a vulnerability;determining whether the selected countermeasure is applicable to theterminal; and when the selected countermeasure is not applicable to theterminal, displaying information of the terminal as a remaining terminalin which the vulnerability remains.
 2. The method according to claim 1,wherein the information includes importance of the remaining terminal.3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information includes atype of the remaining terminal.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the server is connected with a plurality of terminals, and thedetermining is performed for each of the plurality of terminals, and theinformation includes a number of terminals identified as the remainingterminal.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the information isdisplayed using a color based on the number of terminals identified asthe remaining terminal.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein theinformation includes information on one or more countermeasuresapplicable to the terminal corresponding to the vulnerability.
 7. Anapparatus connected with a terminal comprising: a processor configuredto execute instructions; and a memory coupled to the processor andstoring instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause theprocessor to perform: receiving a selected countermeasure correspondingto a vulnerability; determining whether the selected countermeasure isapplicable to the terminal; and when the selected countermeasure is notapplicable to the terminal, displaying information of the terminal as aremaining terminal in which the vulnerability remains.
 8. The apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein the information includes importance of theremaining terminal.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theinformation includes a type of the remaining terminal.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein the apparatus is connected with aplurality of terminals, and the determining is performed for each of theplurality of terminals, and the information includes a number ofterminals identified as the remaining terminal.
 11. The apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein the information is displayed using acolor based on the number of terminals identified as the remainingterminal.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein theinformation includes information on one or more countermeasuresapplicable to the terminal corresponding to the vulnerability.
 13. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing a program for causing aprocessor to perform a method, the method comprising: receiving aselected countermeasure corresponding to a vulnerability; determiningwhether the selected countermeasure is applicable to the terminal; andwhen the selected countermeasure is not applicable to the terminal,displaying information of the terminal as a remaining terminal in whichthe vulnerability remains.